Now,
on 12 March 1947, Truman told
Americans that it was America’s DUTY to interfere (Source
A). His policy
towards the Soviet Union was one of ‘containment’
– he did not try to destroy the USSR, but he wanted to stop
it growing any more. This was called the ‘Truman Doctrine’.

Source C

In June 1947, the American
general George
Marshall went to Europe. He saidevery country in Europe was so poor
that it was in danger of turning Communist! Europe was ‘a breeding
ground of hate’.

He
said that America should give $17 billion of aid to get Europe’s economy
going and stop
Communism.

Marshall said that it was up to the countries of Europe to
decide what they needed. In July 1947, led by Britain and
France, the countries of western Europe met in Paris, and asked for
substantial economic aid.

Source D

The ruling gang of American imperialists has taken the path of open expansion, of enslaving weakened capitalist countries. It has hatched new war plans against the Soviet Union. Imitating Hitler, the new aggressors are using blackmail.

Instead, in October
1947, he set up Cominform. Every Communist party in Europe joined.
This allowed Stalin control of the Communists in Europe.

Then, in January 1949, Stalin created
Comecon - an economic
union of the Communist countries in eastern Europe. This allowed Stalin
to control the Iron Curtain economies for the benefit of Russia - for
instance, one of its rules was that all inventions had to be shared.

Source E
►

'Can
he block it?'

This cartoon was drawn c.1947 by Edwin Marcus,
caricaturist for the New York Times. It shows Stalin trying to stop
the basketball of the 'Marshall Plan'
scoring the basket labelled 'European recovery'.

At first, the American Congress did not want to give the money for
Marshall Aid. But then, in February
1948, the Communists took power in Czechoslovakia, followed on 10
March by the suspicious suicide of the popular minister Jan Masaryk.

The Americans and
the Russians interpreted the Marshall Plan differently, as these cartoons
show!

Source G

This cartoon of 1 October 1947 by EH
Shepard for the British magazine Punch shows
Marshall (on the left) telling 'Uncle Sam' - i.e. the American nation - that
American Aid is needed to shore up the countries of western Europe:
'Come on Sam! It's up to us again.'

Click here for the interpretation

Source H

The cartoon,
which was published in Czechoslovakia in 1949, was drawn by the team of
Russian artists: 'Kukriniksy'.

The title is ‘Marshall’s Plan in practice’. General
Marshall holds guns, and harnesses labelled ‘for the French’ and ‘for the
Germans’.

Click here for the interpretation

Activity:

1. Find all the dates in bold in the text and organise the events into a list in chronological order.

a. Read Source A. Talk about the events in your list – as though you were an American.

b. Now read Sources B–D. Describe the same events – as though you were a Russian Communist.

2. Why did the Marshall Plan make the Russians so angry?

3. Did the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan cause the Cold War?

4. What was the first event of the Cold War?

5. Work out an argument that the creation of Cominform was the first event of the Cold War.